Herrera, Bonesteel, Boelter & Johnston take Dirt Track wins @ Sandia Speedway
Bob & Ray Ingram
8-29-2015

Four divisions came out and put on one of the best shows of the year on The Dirt Track @ Sandia Speedway. With nearly perfect weather for a change and a very fast track a good crowd of fans were treated to some very exciting racing in all divisions.

The 305 Winged Sprints had their best field of the year with 10 very fast cars to run two heats and their main-event. Heat #1 saw the #40X of Jesse Baker shoot out from his pole position start and never look back while the action behind him was nose to tail and side by side. At about the half way point the #12 of Jerry Mosher got way high in turns ¾ and nearly got upside down but the end of the retaining wall caught the car and kept it on all four wheels. Mosher was able to bet restarted and finish the race. At the checkered flag is was Baker with the win in front of the #77 of Colt Treharn who had missed the last few shows and was out with a new power-plant with the #21P of Paul Whitehead coming home in 3rd place. It was good to see Whitehead back out as he had an extremely hard rollover in his Non-Winged Sprinter just last weekend. Heat #2 was nearly all out of town cars as the #49 of Chuck Jackson was the only local of the 5 cars. Alamogordo driver #19 Wes Wofford brought his dad Lorne #18 along for the first time this year and also had another Alamogordo driver #17 Jon McDaniel and Las Cruces driver #9 Robert Herrera. Both of the Woffords are very fast it it seemed that they might finish 1-2 but Herrera had a different idea. After a very close race long battle the #18 of Lorne Wofford took the win in front of the #9 of Robert Herrera with the #19 of Wes Wofford in third. These drivers ran 2 or 3 wide nearly the entire race. The main-event saw all 10 cars on hand make the call as there were no cars damaged in the heat races. This race was slowed only twice for minor yellow flags. The #9 of Robert Herrera took off from his pole position start and seemed to be running away from the field but the father-son duo of Lorne and Wes Wofford weren't going to give up without a fight as they dueled with the #40X of Jesse Baker for the second spot. Once the Woffords cleared Baker they set sail for Herrera as they raced side by side without ever touching each other, with first one then the other running 2nd. Time ran out as the checkered flag fell on Herrera with Wes Wofford holding off dad Lorne for a 2-3 finish.

The X-Mods had a field of 16 cars to run 3 heats, a dash for cash and their very exciting main-event. Heat #1 had two false starts before they were able to make a good start and then ran caution free even though there were several spins but all drivers were able to collect their cars and continue on. The #0 of J.R. Bonesteel took off from his pole position start and led from flag to flag with the #29 of Mike O'Neal taking 2nd and the #19 of Patricia Gallegos a close 3rd. Heat #2 was the best heat of the night as 3 of the 5 starters ran side by side, lap after lap, keeping the fans on their feet. At the checkered flag it was the #28S of Skimmer Leathem holding off the #1 duo of #1X Todd Budlong with the #1M of Mychal Lucero taking 3rd place. These 3 cars were never more than a couple of car lengths apart the entire race. Heat #3 nearly ended before it started as the #53 of Squeaky Mendoza broke just as the green flag waved and came to an almost immediate stop in front of the field, but all of the drivers were able to dodge him without any damage. Once the race did get started there were no more yellow flags to slow the action. Dee Yates in the #15 and Steve Bonesteel in #00 along with Derek Dietz in the #25 had a good battle for the first couple of laps until Yates pulled away to take the win with Bonesteel coming in 2nd with Dietz close behind in 3rd. There was a dash for cash with the 3rd and 4th place finishers in the heat races. Mychal Lucero in the #1M took off from outside the front row and was never really challenged for the win. Chasing Lucero home was the #95 of Andrew Fowner and the #25 of Derek Dietz taking the 2nd and 3rd spots. The main-event had all 16 cars on hand make the call for a very exciting race with action from 1st to last place. The first few laps saw 3 wide racing throughout the field. The top 6 to 8 cars looked like they had a legitimate chance to win this race as nobody was able to gain a big advantage due to 4 yellow flags keeping the field close. J.R. Bonesteel in the #0 took off from outside the front row and led every lap but did see some close challenges from the #1X of Todd Budlong, #15 Dee Yates and the #28S of Skimmer Leathem. At the checkered it was Bonesteel with the win followed by Budlong in 2nd and Yates take the last podium position.

The Street Stocks didn't have the biggest field tonight but put on some of the best races. Heat #1 had the #53 of R.C. Combs take the lead while the other 3 cars fought each other the entire race. First one then the other driver would take over the 2nd spot only to get a little tiny bit out of shape and see the next two drivers get by, this happened about 6 times in the 8 laps. At the end it was the #76 of Madison Conrad holding down the 2nd spot with the #M77 of Cameron Martin coming home 3rd. Heat #2 had 4 very evenly matched cars who ran green to checkered with some very close racing. Rick Boelter in the #5X and Ronnie Bell in the #1 started side by side on the front row and ran the first couple of laps door handle to door handle before Boelter took command and the win with Bell finishing 2nd and the #15 of Cheyenna Yates taking down the 3rd spot. WOW, what a main-event, this was probably the most exciting Street Stock race of the year. Youngster R.C. Combs #53 took off to the lead and stayed fairly comfortably in front but the #5X of Rick Boelter stayed close enough that a slight bobble by Combs would have allowed Boelter to get by for the lead. As Combs and Boelter stayed out front the entire race the next 6 drivers pretty much swapped position several times every lap. Much like the 1st heat race it seemed like these 6 drivers took turns taking over the 3rd position only to get out of shape and allow 2 or 3 drivers to get by. All 6 of these drivers had the 3rd spot at least once during the race. In the surprise of the night we saw the #53 of R.C. Combs who had a large lead spin in turn #1 on the last lap and wind up finishing 7th and giving the #5X of Rick Boelter the opening he had been waiting for and the win. Chasing Boelter home was the #15 of Cheyenna Yates in 2nd and the #1 of Ronnie Bell coming in 3rd. This was possibly the first time we had ever seen the very smooth driving R.C. Combs spin and it couldn't have come at a worse time for the young driver.
The two lady drivers in this class, #15 Cheyenna Yates and the #76 of Madison Conrad are doing a terrific job of staying competitive with the fellows.

The Mini-Sprints had 7 cars to run single heat race and their main-event. This division also put on a couple of their best races of the year. The heat race saw a somewhat slippery track that did not bother these drivers at all as they ran green to checkered. Brianna Francini in the #5F shot out from her pole position start and held off the very fast cars of #72 Mike Barnes and the #17J of Jacob Johnston who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Miss Francini has only run a couple of times this year but is really fast each time she comes out. The main-event again saw the #5F of Brianna Francini take off in the lead with the rest of the field trying to run her down. The #17J of Jacob Johnston made the pass for the lead from Francini only to see a yellow flag that reverted back to the previous lap and move him back to 2nd spot. While Francini and Johnston along with Mike Barnes were fight for the lead the #619 of Lalo Saenz was running hard trying to catch them when he suddenly took a very hard roll on the backstretch. Lalo's car was heavily damaged and Lalo was very limber legged as he exited the car but was able to recover quickly even though his car was done for the night. Once the green flag came back out Johnston continued his battle with Francini and was able to take the lead for good with 5 laps to go. Chasing Johnston and Francini home was the #72 of Mike Barnes.

The Dirt Track @ Sandia Speedway will be dark for the Labor Day weekend and will be back in action on September 12th with NMMRA Non-Winged Sprints along with the A-Mods, Street Stocks, Cruiser / Hornets and the Mini-Sprints.

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody

Here are the full results for all races tonight, these results are UNOFFICIAL and we apologize for any mistakes.

305 Winged Sprints
Heat #1 #40 Jesse Baker, #77 Colt Treharn, #21P Paul Whitehead, #12 Jerry Mosher, #50X Jerry Higgenbotham

Heat #2 #18 Lorne Wofford, #9 Robert Herrera, #19 Wes Wofford, #49 Chuck Jackson, #17 Jon McDaniel

Main-Event #9 Robert Herrera, #19 Wes Wofford, #18 Lorne Wofford, #40X Jesse Baker, #77 Colt Treharn, #17 Jon McDaniel, #49 Chuck Jackson, #12 Jerry Mosher DNF, #50X Jerry Higgenbotham DNF, #21P Paul Whitehead DNF

X-Mods
Heat #1 #0 J.R.Bonesteel #29 Mike O'Neal, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #54D Shawn Dutcher, #4 Henry Alvidrez, #62 Tom Melloy

Heat #2 #28S Skimmer Leathem, #1X Todd Budlong, #1M Mychal Lucero, #95 Andrew Fowner, #60 Tanner Hidgon

Heat #3 #15 Dee Yates, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #25 Derek Dietz, #50 Squeaky Mendoza DNF, #53 Eddie McLain DNF

Dash for Cash #1M Mychal Lucero, #95 Andrew Fowner, #25 Derek Dietz, #54D Shawn Dutcher, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #50 Squeaky Mendoza DNS

Main-Event #0 J.R. Bonesteel, #1X Todd Budlong #15 Dee Yates, #28S Skimmer Leathem, #00 Steve Bonesteel, #29 Mike O'Neal, #1M Mychal Lucero, #19 Patricia Gallegos, #60 Tanner Higdon #95 Andrew Fowner, #4 Henry Alvidrez, #54D Shawn Dutcher DNF, #50 Squeaky Mendoza DNF, #25 Derek Dietz DNF #53 Eddie McLain DNF, #62 Tom Melloy DNS

Street Stocks
Heat #1 #53 R.C. Combs, #76 Madison Conrad, #M77 Cameron Martin, #74M Rob Moesley, #13 Jason Gallegos DNS

Heat #2 #5X Rick Boelter, #1 Ronnie Bell, #15 Cheyenna Yates, #99 Joel Duke

Main-Event #5X Rick Boelter, #15 Cheyenna Yates, #1 Ronnie Bell, #M77 Cameron Martin, #76 Madison Conrad, #99 Joel Duke, #53 R.C. Combs, #74M Rob Moesley DNF, #13 Jason Gallegos DNS

Mini-Sprint
Heat #1 and only #5F Brianna Francini, #72 Mike Barnes, #17J Jacob Johnston, #22$ Ian Stroud, #38 Travis Oldfield, #5JR Jeff Brumfield Jr., #619 Lalo Saenz

Main-Event #17J Jacob Johnston, #5F Brianna Francini #72 Mike Barnes, #22$ Ian Stroud, #38 Travis Oldfield, #5JR Jeff Brumfield Jr., #619 Lalo Saenz DNF